8 Ways Working The Night Shift Hurts Your Health

Almost 15 million American adults don't work the typical 9-to-5, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These employees clocking in for evening, overnight or other irregular shifts -- what's known as shift work -- are at a higher risk for a host of health problems that daytime desk jockeys may not necessarily face to the same degree.

Here's a look at what we know about the potential health effects of shift work:

A study of police officers found a strong link between working the night or evening shift, and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/21/police-sleep-shift-work-_n_1686727.html">getting fewer than six hours of sleep</a> a day.
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The research, published in the journal Workplace Health & Safety, also showed that police officers who got fewer than six hours of sleep a day had more than a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/21/police-sleep-shift-work-_n_1686727.html">doubled risk of bad quality sleep</a>, compared with those who got six or more hours of sleep a day.
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And in another study in the journal SLEEP, University of Buenos Aires researchers found that shift workers were more likely to experience <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2007/08/02/serotonin-shift.html">lower serotonin levels</a> than non shift workers, which could thereby impact sleep, CBC reported. Serotonin, the "feel-good hormone," is also known to impact sleep.

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8 Ways Working The Night Shift Hurts Your Health

Sleep Deprivation Can...

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...Increase Stroke Risk

Even without the typical risk factors, like being overweight or having a family history, short sleep can up your risk for stroke, according to 2012 research. Adults who regularly slept fewer than six hours a night had <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/11/sleep-stroke-risk_n_1586837.html">four times the risk of stroke symptoms</a>, HuffPost reported.